Beersheba
Beersheba is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Judea in modern-day Israel. Known today as Tel Beer Sheva. It appears across 23 verses in Scripture.
Biblical History
Beersheba holds an unparalleled position in the geographical and theological imagination of ancient Israel. As the southernmost city of the settled land, it defined the extent of Israelite territory in the recurring expression "from Dan to Beersheba" (1 Samuel 3:20; 2 Samuel 3:10; 17:11; 1 Kings 4:25). The patriarchal narratives place Abraham here as the recipient of a covenant with Abimelech and as a worshiper of the eternal God (Genesis 21:33). Hagar's second encounter with the divine messenger occurred near Beersheba when she and Ishmael faced death by thirst in the wilderness (Genesis 21:14–19). Isaac dwelt at Beersheba following his own covenant with Abimelech and built an altar there after God appeared to him (Genesis 26:23–25). Jacob's departure from Beersheba to Egypt, accompanied by God's reassuring vision, gave the place a further layer of exodus theology (Genesis 46:1–5). The city appears in tribal allotments to Simeon and later Judah (Joshua 15:28; 19:2), and in Nehemiah's time was resettled by returning exiles (Nehemiah 11:27, 30). Beersheba's repeated appearances across Israel's history underscore its enduring role as a sacred and civic landmark.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Tel Beer Sheva has been the subject of major Israeli excavations led by Yohanan Aharoni (1969–1976) and subsequently by Ze'ev Herzog, yielding one of the most complete Iron Age city plans in the southern Levant. Occupation layers span the Chalcolithic through the Hellenistic periods, though the monumental Iron Age II stratum is most celebrated. Among the most significant finds are a large four-horned altar reused in construction, a massive water reservoir cistern, and evidence of administrative buildings suggesting the city served as a regional administrative center. Tel Beer Sheva is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a major archaeological park open to visitors.
Verse Appearances (23)
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- OpenBible.info (n.d.) Bible Geocoding. Available at: https://www.openbible.info/geo/. [CC BY 4.0]
- Bagnall, R. et al. (eds.) (n.d.) Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places. Available at: https://pleiades.stoa.org. [CC BY 3.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Lawrence, D. et al. (2025) Villages to Empires: a settlement dataset for the Southern Levant. doi:10.5281/zenodo.15111732. [CC BY 4.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]